“His mom went to Michigan, and we recruited him a little bit," Beilein said. "At that time, I’m trying to think, we already had Jon Teske, we had Austin Davis … they were both young guys. We already had Moe Wagner, too. So we thought that as a big, it was probably one (position) we didn’t have a scholarship for. We didn’t need another big guy.

“He’s very good. Loved talking with his mom. But it sometimes just doesn’t work. Your need doesn’t match what he’s looking for.”

After coming off the bench last season, Tillman — a 6-foot-8, 260-pound sophomore averaging 8.7 points and 7.0 rebounds per game — will play a leading role in Sunday's game between No. 7 Michigan and No. 10 Michigan State.

Tillman is the Spartans' starting center in place of Nick Ward, who broke his hand during last Sunday's game against Ohio State. And while all eyes may be on the matchup taking place between the point guards — Zavier Simpson and Cassius Winston — what happens down low between Tillman and Michigan's Jon Teske may be a better determinant on who wins game.

“They do this great job of grooming the next guy," Beilein said Friday afternoon. "So Ward’s a really good player, he’s given us fits over time, but they just plug in Tillman. He’s good. Neither one of them are 3-point shooters, but both of them are tremendous power players.

"Tillman has more offensive rebounds than Nick Ward. Goins has more offensive rebounds than Nick Ward. So I think they’re playing really well. I’m sure they’d love to have (Ward), but there’s not this tremendous drop-off inside. These two guys are good.”

CLOSE

No. 10 Michigan State visits No. 7 Michigan on Sunday with first place in the Big Ten on the line, in the first of two meetings.
Chris Solari, Detroit Free Press

Tillman, who scored 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting in his first start of the season against Rutgers, is a conventional post player. He is a career 20 percent 3-point shooter, but he can score with his back to the basket and has good footwork and awareness down low. Tillman has the team's highest effective field-goal percentage and has made 68.3 percent of his 2s.

He's also a good rebounder, with the team's highest offensive rebounding percentage and the second-highest defensive rebounding percentage.

But he doesn't draw as many fouls as Ward, who ranks third nationally with 7.7 drawn per 40 minutes and likely would've tried to get Teske in early foul trouble. And Tillman has never played this big of a role, let alone in this big of a game.

“Everybody’s gonna have to rise up, none more than Xavier, because we’re gonna expect him to still run the court, he’s gonna have to be really good on those ball screens, which he is probably the best on my team on the ball screens," said Michigan State coach Tom Izzo. "We will try to take advantage of his strengths, not gonna put a round peg in a square hole. I’m not gonna try to make him Nick Ward because he’s not that in the post."

Teske's game stands in contrast to Tillman's.

Although Teske is bigger — he's 7-foot-1 — Michigan rarely looks to post him up (although he did score twice against Minnesota when smaller guards switched onto him). Teske does most of his damage based on shots created by teammates. He can finish lobs, score off the pick-and-roll and step out to hit the occasional jumper.

Teske is a developing option in the pick-and-pop game, hitting 30.9 percent on 55 attempts, and he made 3 of 6 3-pointers against Minnesota.

Michigan's ball-screen offense doesn't run the same without Teske. Neither does the defense. Teske can disrupt offenses by hedging every ball screen while still getting back to his man. He alters shots, and his 8.4 percent block rate is the highest of any player on either team.

His importance has not gone unnoticed.

"They’ve had a funny year if you ask me," Izzo said. "Early in the year, Teske wasn’t even on the radar screen. I thought real early, it was Simpson, and then (Jordan) Poole had his couple of weeks, and then (Ignas) Brazdeikis had his long period of time, and then there was the Teske moment. And probably as of late, (Charles) Matthews is playing the best.

"So they’ve kind of all had their chance and all had their turn. But Teske has done a great job. He’s a very good player can hurt you inside, can hurt you outside. He’s got tremendous size and can get up and down the floor pretty well."

Teske has had success against back-to-the-basket post players this season, to the extent that Michigan probably won't send help when Tillman gets the ball in the post.

It'll be up to Teske to defend Tillman one-on-one and avoid early foul trouble, anchor Michigan's ball-screen defense against Winston and limit offensive rebounds.

Tillman will have a similar share of responsibilities. He'll have to contest at the rim. He'll have to help Winston on offense. And he'll have to continue to run the floor, set screens and grab rebounds.

Both centers were bit players in the rivalry last season. Not anymore.

Michigan center Jon Teske (15) reacts after making a basket in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Northwestern at Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., Sunday, Jan. 13, 2019. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)(Photo: The Associated Press)

"(Teske's) just gotten more aggressive," Tillman said. "I remember last year, he was kind of that role player — ‘I’m just gonna set screens and get the shooter open.’ But now, he’s an offensive threat, you have to guard him. He’s gonna (score) inside and out, make his free throws, and he’s a guy you have to guard."